Review of A Whisker Away

This just became my new favorite comfort film! I, too, was done with human life when I was a young teen, and would have liked to just turn into a cat instead. (Or would I?) This film was so satisfying to watch, and I feel like my fellow reviewers didn’t put much thought into the film as they watched, simply because they went into it thinking it was “just a Netflix anime”. Personally I think A Silent Voice was fake deep, unrealistic, and insulting, while this film accurate depicts certain similar concepts truthfully and in a more subtle manner. I feel that the experiences/thoughts atthis age and time in one’s life were depicted so accurately, and it definitely reflected the thoughts many people have as they are becoming teens and having “romances” for the first time.

The entire concept was so unique, which always immediately creates a greater sense of wonder, and encourages me to enjoy any film just a bit more due to such creativity. Despite the film’s title playing on “Spirited Away”, the actual film managed to set itself apart with ease. This is the closest thing to a Ghibli film we have gotten from another studio, so I truly just don’t understand the ratings, other than a sense of bias was ever-present as a result of this being released on Netflix, among other reasons one may have.

From what I’m seeing, it is a bunch of adults projecting onto literal children. They are unable to separate themselves from the characters, so what they simply have to be misunderstanding is that in Japan these characters in “junior high” are just middle schoolers, 12-14 years old. Muge isn’t a stalker, and it did not handle mental illness poorly... it simply handled concepts with the understanding and viewpoint of someone that age, with the added cultural context of being in Japan (not America). Every experience is different and changed by what country you live in. I’m really tired of seeing people expect literal child characters to have the same understanding and experiences they have had... that would simply be bad writing. Maybe others just couldn’t relate to it personally, but I know I could for sure, after I empathized and put myself back in my mindset and life at 13 years old (8th grade). Perhaps that is why I enjoyed this so much. (That and the fact that I love cats!) I think this film definitely deserves an average closer to 4-5 stars.